Hormone Balance
In a healthy woman two vital hormones,Progesterone and Estrogen, are maintained in balance. When progesterone levels drop in proportion to Estrogen this can lead to the effects of unopposed Estrogen showing up.
In most women, hormone levels start to decline around their mid thirties, gradually at first, then accelerating through their forties, before leveling out between 50 and 55.
However, when this decline commences, progesterone production falls considerably faster than Estrogen. The result is a widened gap in the levels of these two hormones which does not right itself until hormone levels finally settle in the years following the menopause.
This natural change in hormone levels is aggravated by modern environmental and lifestyle factors, including what you eat, how much you exercise, whether you are overweight or obese, how you manage stress and how much you sleep. All can contribute to the extent of hormone decline, and is believed to be responsible for the increasing incidence of oestrogen dominance.
Estrogen Dominance = Progesterone Deficiency
Progesterone is the sister hormone to estrogen, working in tandem with it to regulate and protect the health of the reproductive system throughout our fertile years.
Like its teammate, progesterone is primarily made in the ovaries, but unlike estrogen, it can only be produced at ovulation. (The ruptured follicle that releases an egg upon ovulation pumps out progesterone for the rest of the cycle.)
Apart from governing the second half of the menstrual cycle, maintaining a possible pregnancy, protecting breast, brain and bone health, and a myriad of other vital functions, progesterone’s most important role in the body is to balance estrogen.
Starting at about age 35, almost all women experience a natural falling off of hormone production. In men, the decline begins in the late 30s or early 40s. For women, progesterone declines first – at a rate that is approximately 120 times faster than estrogen decline. Testosterone and other hormones important to the healthy functioning of the body also decrease with age.
In most women, hormone levels start to decline around their mid thirties, gradually at first, then accelerating through their forties, before leveling out between 50 and 55.
However, when this decline commences, progesterone production falls considerably faster than Estrogen. The result is a widened gap in the levels of these two hormones which does not right itself until hormone levels finally settle in the years following the menopause.
This natural change in hormone levels is aggravated by modern environmental and lifestyle factors, including what you eat, how much you exercise, whether you are overweight or obese, how you manage stress and how much you sleep. All can contribute to the extent of hormone decline, and is believed to be responsible for the increasing incidence of oestrogen dominance.
Estrogen Dominance = Progesterone Deficiency
Progesterone is the sister hormone to estrogen, working in tandem with it to regulate and protect the health of the reproductive system throughout our fertile years.
Like its teammate, progesterone is primarily made in the ovaries, but unlike estrogen, it can only be produced at ovulation. (The ruptured follicle that releases an egg upon ovulation pumps out progesterone for the rest of the cycle.)
Apart from governing the second half of the menstrual cycle, maintaining a possible pregnancy, protecting breast, brain and bone health, and a myriad of other vital functions, progesterone’s most important role in the body is to balance estrogen.
Starting at about age 35, almost all women experience a natural falling off of hormone production. In men, the decline begins in the late 30s or early 40s. For women, progesterone declines first – at a rate that is approximately 120 times faster than estrogen decline. Testosterone and other hormones important to the healthy functioning of the body also decrease with age.